LOGO WITH SUBDIVISIONS
INSIDE OUT
Illustration by Kyle Malone
A STUDY GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS
LOGO WITH SUBDIVISIONS
THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN
SYNOPSIS
Molly: “You got to show you
know you know.”
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Margaret Brown rises from a boisterous
tomboy born in Hannibal, Missouri to an
international heroine. She leaves her Irish
father’s side and journeys to Leadville,
Colorado in search of riches and success. There
she meets and marries J.J. Brown, a miner who
is not wealthy but knows the mining business
thoroughly. With hard work and perseverance,
J.J. strikes it rich in the Little Johnny mine. He
and Molly become Leadville celebrities, but
Molly insists they must try their fortunes in
Denver.
After courting the Denver social scene
but being snubbed by “The Sacred 36,” Mrs.
Brown turns her talents to social causes such
as women’s suffrage and juvenile justice. The
Browns travel to Europe to smooth their rough
social edges but return to Denver to pursue
business and social matters. After a schism in
their marriage, Molly returns to Europe only
to endure a year of social boredom with royal
society. She sails for home on the ill-fated
Titanic; when the ship is sinking at sea, Molly
leads a lifeboat of survivors to safety. Her
bravery wins the admiration of the society that
once spurned her.
MEREDITH WILLSON:
THE COMPOSER
2
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THE UNSINKABLE
MOLLY BROWN
Lyrics and Music by Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson was born in Mason City,
Iowa, in 1902 and grew up there. He left for
New York in 1920 where he studied at the
Institute of Musical Art, now the Julliard School,
before he toured with the John Phillip Sousa
band. In 1924, he became the first flutist with
the New York Philharmonic under Arturo
Toscanini (1924-1929).
During World War II, Willson worked for the
United States’ Armed Forces Radio Service,
where he teamed with George Burns, Gracie
Allen and Bill Goodwin. He would work with
all three as a bandleader and a regular on the
Burns and Allen radio program playing a shy
©2014 DCPA Theatre Company
INSIDE OUT
continued on page 3
Additional Lyrics and
Book by Dick Scanlan
Based on the Original
Book by Richard Morris
Musical Adaptation by Michael Rafter
Directed and Choreographed by
Kathleen Marshall
Producing Partners: Joy S. Burns,
June Travis and Daniel L. Ritchie
Contributing Partners: Marvin & Judi Wolf
Supporting Partners: The El Pomar Foundation,
Doug Morton & Marilyn Brown
and L. Roger & Meredith Hutson
SEP 12 – OCT 26
STAGE THEATRE
continued from page 2
young man trying to get advice on women.
Returning to network radio after World
War II, he created the Talking People, a
choral group that spoke in unison while
delivering radio commercials. He also
became the musical director for The
Big Show, a prestigious comedy-variety
program hosted by actress Tallulah
Bankhead and featuring some of the
world’s most respected entertainers.
Willson wrote the song “May the Good
Lord Bless and Keep You” for the show;
Bankhead would speak the lyrics over the
music at the end of each show. Willson also
worked on Jack Benny’s radio program and,
for a few years in the early 1950s, he was a
regular panelist on the Goodson-Todman
game show “The Name’s the Same.”
After moving to Hollywood to work with
NBC, Willson arranged and composed the
scores for Charlie Chaplin’s film satire of
Nazism, The Great Dictator, and for the film
The Little Foxes. He also wrote symphonic
concert pieces and some popular songs.
In his three capacities as composer, lyricist
and librettist, Willson evoked a small-town
America that no longer existed in the mid1950s but was still part of the childhood
memories of some Americans and in the
fantasies of others. This was particularly
true of his musical The Music Man that
featured brass bands and barbershop
harmonies. The Unsinkable Molly Brown,
which reached Broadway in November
1960, was another excursion into a similar
period of Americana. His third musical,
Here’s Love, was a musical adaptation of
the film Miracle on 34th Street; it was a
commercial success, but was considered
the weakest of his musical scores.
He died in Brentwood, California in 1984
and was buried in Mason City, Iowa.
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/17/obituaries/
meredith-willson-composer-of-music-man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Willson
DICK SCANLAN:
LIBRETTEST, WRITER AND ACTOR
Dick was born in the suburbs of
Washington, DC and studied at Carnegie
Mellon University to become an actor.
His short stories in The Village Voice, The
New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Advocate and
Theatre Week convinced him to become a
writer.
He is the co-book writer (with Richard
Morris) and lyricist of the musical
Thoroughly Modern Millie, which premiered
on Broadway in 2002. He is the co-writer,
with Sherrie Rene Scott, of the musical
Everyday Rapture, which opened on
Broadway in 2010.
In 2011 it was announced that Scanlan was
reworking the 1960 musical The Unsinkable
Molly Brown. Richard Morris originally
asked him in 2002, but Scanlan declined
because of the work required on Millie.
After Morris died, his estate contacted
Scanlan and asked him to re-write it; again
he declined because he had other projects
in development. Finally, Freddie Gershon,
president of Music Theatre International,
asked him again to look at Molly Brown,
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which is considered an underexposed
property of MTI. Scanlan agreed and
rewrote the script to change the fanciful
fictitious plot to a more factual one.
AWARDS
2002 Tony Award Best Book of a Musical,
Thoroughly Modern Millie nominee.
2002 Tony Award Best Original Musical
Score, Thoroughly Modern Millie nominee.
2002 Drama Desk Award Outstanding
Book of a Musical, Thoroughly Modern
Millie, nominee.
2002 Drama Desk Award Outstanding
Lyrics, Thoroughly Modern Millie, nominee.
2010 Tony Award Best Book of a Musical,
Everyday Rapture, nominee.
2010 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Book
of a Musical, Everyday Rapture, nominee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Scanlan
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FIRST
THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN
AND THE PRESENT SCRIPT
Diverging from the original show’s
simple rags-to-riches journey (which had
been based on fanciful myths from Gene
Fowler’s book Timberline and stories
by local writer Caroline Bancroft), Dick
Scanlan, the librettist, draws from Margaret
Tobin Brown’s full history, from poverty in
Hannibal, Missouri to wealth in Colorado.
About half the score is from the original
musical (“I Ain’t Down Yet,” “Belly Up to the
Bar, Boys” and “I’ll Never Say No”) and the
rest is from Meredith Willson’s catalogue
of unpublished songs, from which Scanlan
matched existing material to his new
libretto.
Significant cast changes were the
correction of Johnny Brown’s name to J.J.
Brown, not Leadville Johnny Brown; the
addition of Julia Gerrard as Molly’s friend;
the naming of specific miners such as Erich,
Vincenzo, William and Arthur, and the
inclusion of the Tabors, Horace and Baby
Doe. More plot time is spent in Leadville
with mention of the Ice Palace and specific
mines such as the Louisville Mine and the
Little Johnny.
When the Browns move to Denver they
meet up with Louise Sneed-Hill of The
Sacred 36 (see article on Mrs. Crawford
Hill and The Sacred 36 later in this study
guide) , not Mrs. McGlone. Molly spends less
energy trying to crack the Denver social
register and more on worthwhile social
causes such as women’s suffrage, Catholic
charities and juvenile justice.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/158017-SuttonFoster-and -Marc-Kudisch-Bring-Unsinkable-Molly
Brown-Tub-in-Reading-of-Revised-Musical
MARGARET MOLLY BROWN
Margaret Tobin was born in 1867 in
Hannibal, Missouri to John and Johanna
Tobin, a proud Irish Catholic family. She
grew up in a cottage built close to the
Mississippi River and attended the grammar
school run by her aunt, Mary O’Leary. As
a teenager she worked stripping tobacco
leaves at Garth’s Tobacco Company. In 1886
Margaret journeyed to Leadville, Colorado
with her sister, Helen.
In Leadville, Margaret shared a cabin with
her brother Daniel after her sister Helen
returned to Hannibal. In order to pay her
share of the bills, she went to work at the
Daniels and Fisher Mercantile Store in the
draperies department. She met J.J. Brown
at a Catholic Church picnic in 1886; they
had a whirlwind courtship. Margaret had
wanted to marry an extremely rich man
to keep her father comfortable in his old
age, but she fell hard for J.J. Therefore, she
decided “she would be better off with a
poor man she loved.” 1.
On September 1, 1886 Margaret and
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J.J. were married and set up home in
Stumpftown, outside of Leadville. Margaret
began taking lessons in reading and
literature, but she had to take a leave
when Lawrence Palmer Brown was born
in 1887. In 1889 Catherine Ellen was born
and nicknamed Helen. Molly became
interested in miners’ rights and the suffrage
movement, along with Baby Doe Tabor.
Meanwhile, J.J. was amassing his fortune.
When the Sherman Silver Act was repealed
in 1893 (see The Crisis of 1893 later in this
study guide), Leadville went into a state of
gloom with silver mines closing and families
moving. However, J.J. was convinced
the Little Johnny Mine might become a
producer of gold rather than silver. He
devised a timber-and-hay bale method
to hold back the dolomite sand that had
prevented the miners from reaching the
gold at the lower depths of the mine. J.J.
struck it rich and by 1893, the Little Johnny
was shipping 135 tons of ore per day
making Brown one of the most successful
continued on page 5
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mining men in the country. At this point,
Margaret decided it was time to move to
Denver.
The Browns moved to Denver in 1894 and
bought the house at 1340 Pennsylvania
Avenue. Molly wanted to join the Sacred
36, a group of Denver’s elite socialites led
by Louise Sneed Hill (Mrs. Crawford Hill),
the scion of Denver society. To this group,
birthright, position, and upbringing were
what counted in achieving social status.
Since Molly had none of these, she was
snubbed; her honesty and good nature
were not appreciated. Frankly, it came
to matter little because the Browns soon
rose in Denver society without the help
of the Sacred 36. To celebrate their new
prosperity and social standing, the Browns
toured Europe in 1895.
When they returned to Denver, Margaret
threw her energies into charitable work.
She was a founding member of the Denver
Women’s Club that advocated literacy,
education, suffrage and human rights. She
raised funds to build the Cathedral of the
Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph’s
Hospital. She found an ally in Judge Ben
Lindsey and together they worked to help
destitute children and establish the first
juvenile court in the country.
After some years of marital harmony,
Margaret’s interest in miners’ rights and
J.J.’s supposed affair with a young woman
made for tense times in the marriage. Molly
returned to Europe and socialized with her
royal friends. She set sail for the United
States on the doomed Titanic’s maiden
voyage and, after saving her lifeboat of
passengers, became an international
celebrity. She was finally accepted by the
Sacred 36, but the recognition did not
matter.
Since Margaret and J.J. were both
Catholic, there could be no divorce. J.J.
died on Long Island in 1922, leaving no will.
Margaret battled against her children over
the estate in court; Molly wanted a larger
share, but she lost. As a result, she became
estranged from her children.
Molly died on October 26, 1932, at the
Barbizon Hotel in New York City where
she had been studying acting. The family
withdrew from public life after their failure
to correct the folklore spun by Gene Fowler
and Caroline Bancroft’s tabloid articles.
Only recently have they agreed to work
with an historian, Kristen Iverson to correct
the legend of their mother.
1. Iverson, p. 90.
Iverson, Kristen. Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth.
Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 1999.
Rogoff, David. “Denver’s Unsinkable” Molly Brown.
Boulder, CO: Stonehenge Books, 1980.
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/
molly-brown.html
JAMES JOSEPH BROWN
J.J.: “Your future’s staring you
in the face. Not a picture,
a real man.”
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
James Joseph Brown was born in
Waymart County, Pennsylvania on
September 27, 1854. He was schooled by
his mother and eventually attended St.
John’s Academy in Pittston, Pennsylvania.
In 1877, at the age of 23, he left to pursue
a mining career. First, he worked on farms
in Nebraska. He knew of the fortunes to be
made in mining but was very pragmatic.
Believing in hard work more than good
luck, he went to the Black Hills of South
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Dakota where he worked in the placer
mines for two years.
In 1880 Brown hopped a train to Colorado
where he spent a month in Georgetown;
then he spent two more years in Ashcroft
near Aspen. J.J. headed to Leadville after
studying geology, a science that taught
him how to sink a shaft. With knowledge,
experience and a growing network of
contacts, J.J. became the shaft manager
for mines owned by David Moffat and Eben
Smith in 1885. In a few years he became
superintendent of the Maid and Henriette
mines. His method of using baled hay and
timbers prevented many a cave-in and
allowed for gold to be mined in the Little
Johnny Mine.
continued on page 6
continued from page 5
In 1886 J.J. and Molly were married after
she succumbed to his personality, charm
and the fact that he had a steady job. Both
enjoyed Leadville’s social life and attending
events at the Tabor Opera House; J.J. heard
author and playwright Oscar Wilde in 1883.
Both educated themselves with lessons in
reading, literature and music.
J.J. was appointed superintendent of
the Ibex Mining Company while Molly was
concerned with miners’ rights and the
suffrage movement. When they moved
to Denver in 1894, J.J.’s business required
much travelling; while he was away, Molly
heard disquieting rumors.
In declining health, the Browns moved
to Ireland in 1899 for one year for J.J.’s
recuperation. The stay did very little, for
they returned to Denver the following
year. In 1909, he had a hernia operation.
On September 5, 1922, J.J. suffered a heart
attack; Molly rushed to get to his side but
he died alone. He is buried in Westbury
Village, Long Island. At the time of his
death, Margaret told newspapers, “I’ve
never met a finer, bigger, more worthwhile
man than J.J. Brown.” 1.
1. http://en. wikipedia.org
Iverson, Kristen. Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth.
Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 1999.
http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joseph_Brown
LEADVILLE, COLORADO
J.J.: “Maybe Leadville has
more to offer than you give
us credit for.”
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
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Leadville was the greatest of all the
Colorado mining regions; its history is a
series of boom and bust periods following
the fortunes of the mining industry.
Placer mining [mining for alluvial or loose
surface deposits] for gold was started in
California Gulch in 1859. By 1861, 5000
prospectors covered the area and the
settlement of Oro City was established. The
placer deposits quickly disappeared; by
the 1870s the area was almost deserted. In
1878 a metallurgist named Alvinius Woods
and his partner William Stevens visited the
area; they discovered that the local sands
were composed of lead carbonate with an
extremely high silver content. The mother
lode was discovered on the side of Iron
Hill. This finding led to the second boom in
the area; the silver rush would lead to the
founding of Leadville.
Thousands were drawn to the area by
the discovery of silver in the mid-1870s. As
a result of this explosive growth, the city
of Leadville was incorporated in January
1878. At an elevation of 10,200 feet, it is the
highest incorporated city in the country. By
the end of 1879, the population in Leadville
reached 18,000; by 1893 the estimated
population reached 60,000. This was the
period when great fortunes were made and
lost throughout the district.
By 1881 there were 14 smelters and
reduction plants operating in the Leadville
district. Some of the leading mining
properties in the district included the
Matchless, Morning Star, Iron Silver, Catalpa,
Chrysolite and Little Pittsburgh.
The demonetization of silver in 1893
resulted in the closing of most of the
silver mines around Leadville. All but one
of the smelters closed, but the survivor
became the great Arkansas Valley Smelter
that operated into the 1960s. As the local
economy declined in the wake of the
Silver Panic, significant gold deposits
were discovered in the eastern portion of
the district. This led to the third boom in
Leadville’s history.
The discovery of rich gold deposits in the
area reinvigorated the Leadville district.
The Ibex Mining Company became a
leader in the district, acquiring many of
the older silver workings and reopening
them. The lead and zinc ore pulled from
the mines contained significant amounts of
manganese and bismuth in addition to gold.
This broader base of production allowed
the district to maintain a reasonable level
of prosperity until the Great Depression,
when low world metal prices, increasing
costs of production and limited capital
resources gradually closed down most of
the operations.
continued on page 7
continued from page 6
During the boom years of the 1870s to
the 1890s, Leadville’s economy demanded
significant rail connections. Three railroads
operated in the district for more than 30
years, which moved thousands of tons of
ore from Leadville to smelters, brought in
merchandise, mining supplies, coal for fuel
and building materials. Passenger traffic in
and out of the area was significant because
the only other means of reaching Leadville
was by stagecoach.
Leadville hosted governors, senators and
three different presidents. The town has
memories of the visits of Sarah Bernhardt,
Buffalo Bill Cody, Maude Adams and Oscar
Wilde.
Blair, Edward and Churchill, E. Richard.
Everybody Came to Leadville.
Ft. Collins, CO: First Light Publishing, 1999.
http://www. narrowgauge.org/ncmap/ted/dspp2_
leadville.html
THE TABORS
In 1860, when the California Gulch
discovery was made just south of present
day Leadville by Woods and Stevens,
Horace Tabor and his first wife Augusta
arrived with their son Maxey. They had left
their farm in Kansas, arrived in Denver and,
after hearing about the success in Leadville,
decided to head west up the mountains.
The Gulch had been panned out; however,
by 1862, the Tabors left the area heading
back east over Mosquito Pass. Horace had
built a cabin in an area called Buckskin Joe,
become involved in community affairs and
opened a grocery store. But the appeal of
California Gulch brought the Tabors back in
November of 1868, where they once again
opened a store. Horace became postmaster
of the town then called Oro City. Later he
moved to Leadville, where he became the
city’s first mayor and second postmaster.
Tabor was known to be a generous man
and that generosity paid him big dividends.
In 1878, two immigrants, August Riche and
George Hook, walked into the store and
asked Horace if he would grubstake them.
Tabor did, three times; the first cost him
a mere $17. A month later, on May 15, the
group knew they had a bonanza on their
hands, the Little Pittsburgh Mine. By the
end of the summer each received a $10,000
dividend. Tabor quickly asserted himself
leader of the silver mining community.
In 1880, an attractive 25-year-old divorcee
named Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt Doe
arrived in Leadville. Her presence was
soon discovered by Tabor, who began a
discreet relationship with her. By summer
of 1880, the affair was no longer discreet;
Horace moved out of his house and asked
Augusta for a divorce. She refused. Horace
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consulted with an attorney in order to
secure a divorce, which he finally did in
Durango, Colorado. It was not a legal
divorce; whether Horace knew this or not
is unknown. The fact remains that he and
Elizabeth (soon to be known as “Baby
Doe”) were secretly married in St. Louis in
1883. Augusta fought vigorously against
this so-called “divorce”, but it was too
late. She asked for separate maintenance,
which was estimated at two to three million
dollars, and moved to Pasadena, California.
Horace Tabor’s fame grew; he served
as senator from Colorado for 30 days as
a political appointment for Henry Teller’s
vacated senatorial position. But the scandal
of the alleged divorce and marriage raged
on; it was an embarrassment to Denver
as well as to Washington and irritated
prominent figures in high social circles.
However, on March 1, 1883, the marriage
between Horace and Baby Doe was finally
legalized.
When Congress repealed the Sherman
Silver Act, the government was no longer
in the market for silver. Prices for silver
dropped precipitously and it became
impossible to continue operations. Horace
Tabor, failing to listen to the advice of
others and diversify, faced ruin. He also
had made a number of unsuccessful
investments in foreign mining ventures that
had failed. His reserves were gone; he and
Baby Doe lost everything. Nevertheless,
Horace never lost faith in the future and
told Baby Doe to hold on to the Matchless
Mine. He died in 1899 at the age of 66.
When offers were made to Baby Doe to
sell the mine, she refused. Misfortune had
made her skeptical of mankind and she
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mistrusted everyone who offered her relief.
She returned to Leadville, penniless
but steadfast. She lived out her days in a
one-room shed near the Matchless Mine
where she died at the age of 81. Baby Doe
became a legend — the inspiration behind
two books, a Hollywood movie, two operas,
a musical, a screenplay and an enduring
legacy.
Karsner, David. Silver Dollar: the Story of the Tabors.
New York: Crown Publishers, 1932.
http://www.leadville.com/history/tabor.htm
The Denver Post, May 27, 1908. “By 10 Minutes, Widow
Saves Tabor’s Mine”.
THE LEADVILLE ICE PALACE
ERICH: “Wait till you see: a
castle carved out of ice.”
The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
As prosperity waned in Leadville,
Colorado, civic boosters decided the town
needed to attract tourists to revive its
flagging economy. They settled on a grand
ice palace, which would be a permanent
structure — used for carnivals and events
in the winter and public meetings in the
summer. It was decided the palace would
be built on top of the prominent Capitol Hill
where it would dominate the cityscape.
Enough money had been raised for the
construction to begin in November 1895.
The structure was not actually built out
of ice, though; the ice blocks were for
appearance only. The Palace was supported
by a framework of girders, trusses and
timber. Five thousand tons of ice was
required for the walls, much of which was
hauled in from the faraway Palmer Lake,
between Denver and Colorado Springs.
Upon arrival at the construction site, the ice
was trimmed and placed into forms. It was
then sprayed with boiling water that helped
to bind the 22-inch thick blocks together.
On January 1, 1896, after much publicity
and promotion, the Leadville Ice Palace had
its grand opening. More than 2000 visitors
arrived to marvel at the five-acre palace
with its 90-foot-high octagonal ice towers
complete with turrets, a 20-foot-wide
promenade, electric lights frozen within
the ice blocks, prismatic search lights and a
190-by-80 foot skating rink.
Welcoming visitors at the main entrance
was “Lady Leadville,” a 19-foot-tall ice
sculpture on a 12-foot ice pedestal, her right
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arm pointing to the prosperous mines to
the east of town. Independent vendors set
up shop adjacent to the Ice Palace, hoping
to cash in on the attraction.
At that time there were three railroads
servicing Leadville; the hope was that the
winter season would bring record numbers
of crowds. The railroads promoted the
attraction and offered special roundtrip
fares.
But things didn’t work out quite as the
city had expected. Within days of the
Palace’s opening, rumors began circulating
in Denver newspapers of problems in
Leadville such as the palace ice melting
and falling walls. The papers also warned
of limited food availability and supposed
thieves in the area. The Leadville Herald
Democrat assured readers these rumors
were false with little merit. Many visitors
came only for one day, packing their own
lunches, to the dismay of restaurants and
vendors.
As fate would have it, March of 1896
brought unseasonably high temperatures
and lower attendance figures. The Palace
actually began melting as snow began
receding from the mountainsides. On March
28, the last official ceremony of the Winter
Carnival was held.
http://cozine.com/2009-december/the -leadville-icepalace-a look-back/
MRS. CRAWFORD HILL AND THE SACRED 36
Louise Sneed was a Southern Belle born
in North Carolina about the time the Civil
War broke out. After the death of her
parents, she moved to Memphis where she
lived with an older sister. She was unable
to find a suitable husband in the post-Civil
War South, and in 1893, unmarried and
approaching spinsterhood, she came to
Denver to visit some cousins. They threw a
gala party for their guest and, at the party,
Louise was introduced to Denver’s most
eligible bachelor, Crawford Hill, who was
to inherit a small fortune from his father,
former Senator Nathaniel Hill, who had
founded a smelter in Black Hawk. Louise
set her sights on Crawford and in 1895 they
were married in what was proclaimed the
wedding of the year in Memphis. The new
Mr. and Mrs. Hill moved into an apartment in
the present day site of the City and County
Building, where they had two sons. Louise
set out to conquer Denver society of which
her mother-in-law was already a fixture,
even though Louise had stated when she
arrived here that Denver was a “social
backwater.” 1.
In 1905 the Hills built a large mansion on
Capitol Hill at Tenth and Sherman streets,
which still exists although it now houses
law offices. In it they had a large drawing
room that was 72-feet long and Louise
found it would accommodate nine tables
for card games with four people at each
table. Every month or two she would invite
36 leaders whom she considered the crème
de la crème of Denver’s high society to
play whist or bridge. Those leaders became
known as The Sacred 36 and “it was to this
group that Molly aspired but was never
invited, causing her to label Louise Hill as
the “snobbiest woman in Denver.” 2.
Around 1914, Louise met a dashing polo
playing socialite named Buckley Wells. He
also was the president of the SmugglerUnion gold mine, had other mining
interests, and was a general in the Colorado
National Guard. He and Louise hit it off and
soon they became involved in a torrid affair.
Apparently Crawford Hill not only knew of
the illicit affair but also followed it, for the
three of them sometimes dined together
and occasionally went on trips together. In
the foyer of their mansion Louise hung two
portraits, one of Crawford on one wall and
on the other wall she had an even bigger
picture of Buckley.
Buckley’s wife Grace was not tolerant and
in 1918 she divorced him. In 1922 Crawford
Hill died and since they were both now
single, Louise thought Buckley would
marry her. Instead he eloped with a blond
divorcee from Nevada; an irate Louise was
heard to say, “I’ll break him.”3. Using her
social and political contacts, she got many
of his financial backers to withdraw their
support, and at the age of 31, on the verge
of bankruptcy, Buckley Wells committed
suicide.
Louise never remarried and continued to
live in their home until the Second World
War when it became increasingly difficult to
find domestic help to keep up the mansion.
So Louise moved to the Brown Palace Hotel
where she became something of a recluse.
1. http://fairmountheritage foundation.org
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid
http://fairmoumt foundation.org/louise-sneed-hill-and
–denver’s-sacred –thirty-six
THE TITANIC
On the morning of April 10, 1912, 914
passengers boarded the RMS Titanic at
Southhampton, England. At noon, the ship
left port and headed for Cherbourg, France,
where it made a quick stop before heading
to Queenstown (now called Cobh) in
Ireland. At these stops, a handful of people
disembarked and a few hundred boarded.
By the time the ship left Queenstown at
1:30pm on April 11, 1912 heading for New
York, she was carrying more than 2,200
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people, both passengers and crew.
The first two days across the Atlantic,
April 12 and 13, went smoothly. The crew
worked hard and the passengers enjoyed
their luxurious surroundings. Sunday,
April 14, 1912 also started out relatively
uneventfully, but later became deadly.
Throughout that day, the Titanic received
a number of wireless messages from other
ships warning about icebergs along their
path. However, for various reasons, not all
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of these warnings made it to the bridge.
Captain Edward J. Smith, unaware of how
serious these warnings had become, retired
to his room for the night at 9:30pm. At that
time, the lookouts had been told to be a bit
more diligent in their observations, but the
ship was still steaming full speed ahead.
The evening was cold and clear, but
the moon was not bright. That, coupled
with the fact that the lookouts did not
have access to binoculars, meant that the
lookouts spotted the iceberg only when it
was directly in front of the Titanic.
At 11:40pm, the lookouts rang the bell
to issue a warning and notified the bridge
by phone. First Officer Murdoch ordered a
sharp left turn and commanded the engine
room to put the engines in reverse. The
Titanic did bank left, but it wasn’t quite
enough. Thirty-seven seconds after the
lookouts warned the bridge, the ship’s
starboard (right) side scraped along
the iceberg below the water line. Many
passengers had already gone to sleep and
were unaware that there had been a serious
accident. Those passengers who were
still awake felt little as the Titanic hit the
iceberg. Captain Smith, however, knew that
something was very wrong and returned to
the bridge.
Taking a survey of the ship, Captain Smith
realized that the ship was taking on a lot
of water. Although the ship was built to
continue floating if three of the bulkheads
filled with water, six were already filling fast.
Realizing that the ship was sinking, Captain
Smith ordered the lifeboats uncovered and
told the wireless operators to send out
distress calls.
At first, many of the passengers did not
comprehend the severity of the situation.
It was a cold night and the Titanic still
seemed like a safe place, so many people
were reluctant to get into lifeboats when
the first one was launched at 12:45am. As it
became increasingly obvious that the ship
was sinking, the rush to get on a lifeboat
became desperate. Women and children
were to board the lifeboats first; however,
early on, some men were allowed to get
into the boats. To the horror of everyone on
board, there were not enough lifeboats to
save everyone. During the design process, it
had been decided to place only 16 standard
lifeboats and four collapsible ones on the
Titanic because any more would have
cluttered the deck on the purportedly
“unsinkable” ship. If 20 lifeboats had been
on the ship and properly filled, 1,178 people
could have been saved (just over half those
on the boat).
Once the last lifeboat was lowered those
remaining on board reacted in different
ways. Some grabbed any object the might
float, threw the object overboard and
jumped in after it. Others stayed on board
because they were stuck within the ship
and determined to die with dignity. The
water was freezing, so anyone in the water
for more than a couple of minutes, froze
to death. At 2:15am on April 15, 1912, the
Titanic snapped in half and then fully sank
two minutes later.
Many ships received the Titanic distress
calls, but it was the Carpathia that was
the first to arrive as seen by survivors in
the lifeboats around 3:30am. Once the
survivors were on board, the Carpathia
headed to New York, arriving in the evening
of April 18, 1912. In all a total of 705 people
were rescued.
http://weatherwatch.com/icebergs-greenland-titanic
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/p/titanic.htm
THE CRISIS OF 1893
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The crisis of 1893 had numerous causes.
Railroads were overbuilt, allowing silver
mines to be opened and silver to flood
the market. The Sherman Silver Purchase
Act of 1890 required the United States
government to buy millions of ounces of
silver, driving up the price of the metal. Ten
days after the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad declared bankruptcy, Grover
Cleveland was inaugurated as President.
He urged Congress to repeal the Sherman
Silver Purchase Act. His action prompted a
run on the banks as people withdrew their
money and redeemed silver notes for gold.
The United States Treasury’s gold supply
dwindled, causing the nation’s credit rating
to suffer. With the repeal of the Sherman
Silver Purchase Act, the over-abundance
of silver led to the closure of mines in
the West, a fact which forced railroads
serving mining communities to fold. Denver
was particularly hard hit by the ensuing
economic downturn.
The effects of this crisis affected most
areas of the economy. Agricultural distress
was widespread; coal miners and Pullman
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workers went on strike. The Denver and
Rio Grande Railroad ceased its ambitious
plans and switched from narrow gauge
railroad to standard gauge. The Democrats
and President Cleveland were blamed for
this situation; therefore, the presidential
election of 1896 was fought over economic
issues and was won by pro-gold, high tariff
Republicans.
The repercussions in the West were
severe. The silver economy folded and many
banks suspended payment. Numerous
wealthy men including Horace Tabor
suffered severe losses. Denver lost 14,000
jobs; five thousand indigents slept in parks
or under bridges while other families left
the city. The consequences were severe as
people lost confidence in government and
its leaders.
www. Saylor.org/site/wpcontext uploads/2011/08/Hist
312-101.2/Panic-of-1893-pdf.
http://ellensplace.net/hcq_fac.8.html.
http://waltercoffey/wordpress.com/2012/11/30/theeconomic-crisis-of 1893/
MOLLY AND THE MINERS
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“Leadville, like many other mining
communities, was a microcosm of
contentious race and labor relations at the
end of the 1800’s.”1.
The mining community was comprised of
immigrants from many parts of the world.
They were limited as to where they could
work; as company laborers, they were forced
to live in company houses, buy at company
stores and send their children to company
schools. A few executives at the top exercised
enormous control over this large population
of miners. For example, J.J. Brown knew
what a miner had to do to earn his salary,
but he also knew what he had to do to keep
his employees on the payroll. As a top flight
mining man, he became a stockholder in the
Ibex Mining Company. As a result, J.J. found
himself defending the mine owners’ positions.
Molly had a different viewpoint. With her
strong social conscience, Margaret observed
the inequities of society: some men who
made a fortune overnight and other families
left destitute by the boom and bust effects of
the Leadville mining community. She resolved
to do what she could.
On September 23, 1913, coal miners at
Ludlow, north of Trinidad, struck over safety
issues, guaranteed minimum wage and the
eight hour day. The mine was owned by the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in Pueblo,
a Rockefeller enterprise. Colorado had laws
regulating mine safety, but the company
refused to enforce them. Shortly after
the strike began, conflict escalated when
Baldwin-Felts, a detective agency, and the
Colorado National Guard appeared on the
scene. Miners and their families were evicted
from their homes. Later, militiamen and
company guards shot and burned to death 18
striking miners and their families. They then
set fire to the tents where four women and 11
children were huddled.
When Margaret learned of the massacre,
she said, “It makes no difference to me
where I go. I am ready to go anywhere I’m
needed.”2. She organized a nurse’s corps
to go to the site and provide immediate
relief. Meanwhile, she remained in Denver to
muster financial support, arranging a benefit
entertainment, the proceeds of which would
buy clothing and shoes for miners’ families.
Molly insisted she was not taking sides and
was only providing help. She was neither procapital nor pro-labor; she made the point that
militiamen had not been paid since January
and that the strikers had been out of work
since September.
If J.J. had an opinion, he did not voice it.
Like John D. Rockefeller, the major owner of
Colorado Fuel and Iron, and John Charles
Osgood, another mine owner, he may have
felt, “it was the miners’ own fault if they
weren’t happy; after all, they had voluntarily
gone to work.”3. Conservative thinkers were
fierce opponents of unions and of any social
legislation that limited a business’s right to
run their own affairs as they saw fit. Though
Rockefeller was vilified for his position on
Ludlow, it didn’t seem to affect his bottom
line.
1. Iverson, p. 96.
2. Iverson, p. 197.
3. http://mountainnews.net
Iverson, Kristen. Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth.
Boulder, CO.: Johnson Books, 1999.
http://www.umva.org/?q=content/ledlow-massacre
http://mountainnews.net/2014/04/15/lessons-ludlow100-years-later
http://billmoyers.com/2014/04/23/us-workers-wereonce-massacred-fighting-for-the-protections-beingrolled-back-today/
Mrs. Brown and the Alliance
Française de Denver
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On September 16, 1903, The Denver Times
printed the following: “The formation of
a distinctively French-speaking club will
be an event of the next few weeks. The
proposed Alliance Française, which is to
be organized by Mrs. James J. Brown at
her home, 1340 Pennsylvania Avenue early
in October, will be open to the Frenchspeaking people of Denver and will be
the inauguration of a new style of club
work. Points of special interest to those for
whom France holds a certain charm will be
discussed and the club will be one of the
most unique and interesting that has ever
been attempted in Denver. … Mrs. Brown
has spent several years in Paris and other
cities of importance in France and is quite
familiar with phases of French life, which will
be a basis for discussion. Already a great
number of applications have been made
for membership and the new organization
promises to be launched with due eclat.”
The Alliance Française was founded
in Paris in 1883 by prominent artists
and intellectuals of the time, including
scientist Louis Pasteur (who discovered
pasteurization) and writer Jules Verne (who
wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
the Sea). Now, there are more than 800
chapters in 137 different countries around
the world. The Denver chapter, founded
in 1897, endures as one of the oldest
nonprofits in the area. Its mission is to
encourage the study of French cultures and
language and to foster cultural, intellectual,
artistic, and friendly exchanges between
the French-speaking world and the local
community.
The Browns first visited France in 1895,
just a couple of short years after James
Joseph “J.J.” Brown made a fortuitous gold
strike at the Little Johnny Mine in Leadville,
Colorado. During their grand European tour
Mrs. Brown became enamored with Paris’
culture, fashion, and architectural beauty.
Having hired private tutors back home,
the Browns were conversant in French and
enjoyed their travels throughout France.
After their return, the local newspapers
regularly described the elegant gowns
which she brought back from Paris, often
setting the season’s fashion trends for
Denver.
Mrs. Brown and the children were making
regular trips to France when daughter Helen
began attending a Paris convent school
in 1901; she would then later finish school
at the Sorbonne. Inspired by the salons
of Paris society, in 1903 Margaret helped
organize the Denver chapter of Alliance
Française, a club dedicated to French
culture. She frequently offered the use of
her home for French-language classes and
Alliance Française assemblies.
On April 10, 1912, as the Titanic descended
into the ocean, Margaret boarded lifeboat
number six and made it safely to the
Carpathia. There, she used her skills in
French and other languages to help fellow
survivors find family and assistance. By late
summer of 1914, it became apparent that
war was escalating as Germany advanced
toward Paris. Mrs. Brown helped to establish
medical relief facilities in France and launch
a motorized ambulance pool stationed
on the northern edge of Paris. Mrs. Brown
became one of many American women with
the means and the desire to help a country
near and dear to her. In February of 1932,
just months before her death, she received
the French Legion of Honor Chevalier award
as a culmination of her lifelong affinity and
support. Margaret’s Alliance Française de
Denver endures to this day. Don’t hesitate
to visit and share her passion for French
language and culture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_fran%C3%A7aise
http://www.fondation-alliancefr.org/?cat=1
http://www.afdenver.org/
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/
molly-brown.html
Malcolm, Andrea. Vive la France ! Molly Brown and Her
Life in France. Historic Denver News, Summer 2014.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
STUDY QUESTIONS
Pre-Performance Questions
1) What do you already know about Margaret “Molly” Brown’s life? Which parts of her life
are mythical, which parts are factual, and which parts could be either?
2) Why is the nickname “Unsinkable” fitting for Molly Brown? What other times in her life
does she live up to the name other than her experience on the Titanic?
3) If you had abundant wealth, what philanthropic organization would you fund or start? What organization would benefit our local/global community?
Post-Performance Questions
1) How do the costumes, lighting and other scenic elements add to the production?
2) How would you describe the character of Mrs. Margaret “Molly” Tobin Brown?
3) What are Molly Brown’s aspirations? What is the significance of the calendar?
4) How would you describe the courtship and marriage of Molly and J.J.?
5) Why did Molly Brown want to leave the town of Leadville? Why did J.J. want to stay?
6) What caused the Louisville Mining Company to close down? What did J.J. invent to
change his fortune and the fortune of the town?
7) How are other historical figures portrayed in the play? Horace and Baby Doe Tabor?
8) How are social class and social class struggles depicted in the play? Where are these
struggles still evident in our country and in the world today?
9) Is Molly Brown portrayed any differently when she arrives in Denver?
10) How does the Sacred Thirty-Six in Denver welcome her and include her in the city’s
activities?
11) What prompts Molly to begin her charitable undertakings?
12) Why does Molly decide to run for congress? What obstacles are in her way and how
does she handle them?
13) Why do J.J.’s friends call him a “hypocrite?” Explain why he may or may not deserve
this title?
14) Does J.J. believe in unions? What is his policy about unions in the mining business?
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ACTIVITIES
Personal Calendar Making
Create a calendar that has your dreams and aspirations in it. Find an old calendar to use as
a template or use a current calendar. Collect pictures from old magazines or newspapers,
scan photographs from your life or draw/sketch a picture for inclusion. For each month,
create a collage of images, use a single image, draw your own picture or fill in the month
however you would like to best demonstrate the following categories.
For the first three months of the year—January, February and March—create a
representation where you think you are now in your life drawing from the past and
present. This would include physical and emotional states.
For the next three months—April, May and June—create pages to predict where you plan
on being in the very near future.
Use the final six months—July through December—to fill in the months with an image or
images that will represent where and what your future holds.
Visual Art PG: Recognize, articulate, and debate that the visual arts are a means for expression.
Visual Art PG: Explain, demonstrate, and interpret a range of purposes of art and design, recognizing that
the making and study of art and design can be approached from a variety of viewpoints, intelligences, and
perspectives.
Timelines
Historic Timeline
1. Ask students to research significant events in Colorado and United States history
leading up to, during and following the play The Unsinkable Molly Brown and to place
them in chronological order.
2. Create a timeline using the information gathered.
3. Discussion Questions: What changes or innovations were happening during these
times? How was the world changing? How are these historical events included in the
play The Unsinkable Molly Brown? What are the parallels of these significant Colorado
events to global events?
Molly Brown Timeline
1. Ask students to chart the journey of Molly Brown in the play The Unsinkable Molly
Brown.
2. Create a timeline and plot the events of your chosen character.
3. Discussion Questions: What significant events happened in Molly Brown’s life? Track
the events in the first timeline and compare them to the character’s life.
History PG: Develop an understanding of how people view, construct, and interpret history.
History PG: Analyze key historical periods and patterns of change over time within and across nations and cultures.
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Location Representation
Split the class into three groups. Explain that each group is to select people from the past
or the present to represent their geographic location at a global conference. Due to the
size of the conference, each group will be limited in their selection of only three people to
best represent their group. Each group will decide on the criteria for which the people will
be selected for inclusion and compile a list of their representatives.
One group represents the state of Colorado.
One group represents the United States.
One group represents the earth.
Discussion questions: What was the criteria developed for selecting the people? Were
some of the choices similar? Why were these people selected? Did anyone argue to
include someone that had value to them personally but not for the group as a whole?
Civics PG: Research, formulate positions, and engage in appropriate civic participation to address local, state, or
national issues or policies.
Geography PG: Develop spatial understanding, perspectives, and personal connections to the world.
Status Card Game
Material needed: Deck of cards
Choose five students and have them stand in a line in front of the class. Without looking
at the card, each student receives a card that they are to place face out on their forehead.
Explain that the cards’ ranking is equal to the student’s status in relation to the other
students. For example, a student with a queen would have high status, but a king or an
ace would have more and a two would have the least amount of status.
Students must determine their status in relation to the other students through an
improvization game. Because the students are not able to see their cards, they must
behave in the position that the other students might treat them.
After the exploration, have the students line-up in the order where they think their card
would place them.
Discuss the activity: How does it feel to be treated well or poorly by your peers?
What are some of the ways that you were treated to indicate what your status was? How
could you tell if it was a high card or low card? What about a middle card?
Discuss the play: Who are the characters in The Unsinkable Molly Brown that have more
status than others? How do the characters interact and display that they have more or less
status than the other characters? Which characters use status for their advantage?
Social Science PG: Analyze and practice rights, roles, and responsibilities of citizens.
Drama and Theatre Arts PG: Employ drama and theatre skills, and articulate the aesthetics of a variety of
characters and roles.
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UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES
Make your experience unforgettable when you join us for one of these
insightful, educational events:
Insider Perspectives
Get an exclusive insider’s perspective of each play when you join us for a
professionally-moderated discussion with our creative team. Held at
the Ricketson Theatre. Free.
Sep 12 | 6pm | The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Page to Stage Book Club
Read the book, see the play and join the discussion. Held at the
Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave. Free.
Sep 10 | 5:30pm | Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth by Kristen Iversen
Page to Stage Discussions
Delve into the creative process behind our shows when you join our actors,
playwrights and directors for an in-depth discussion about their work.
Held at the Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave. Free.
Sep 23 | 12pm | The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Talkbacks with the Cast
Join a fun and engaging discussion with the actors directly after select
performances. Free.
Oct 12 | The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Talkbacks with Higher
Education Advisory Council
Participate in a topical discussion led by members of our academic
community held directly after select performances. Free.
Sep 28 | The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Theatre & Theology Talkbacks
Join Pastor Dan Bollman of the Rocky Mountain Evangelical Lutheran Synod to
examine each show through a theological lens directly after select performances. Free.
Sep 23 | The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Theatre Thursday
Enjoy a complimentary cocktail, tasty bar bites, live music and a ticket to the show.
Sep 18 | 5pm | Bonfils lobby | $60 with code THURSDAY | The Unsinkable Molly Brown
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WANT TO KNOW MORE? The Denver Public Library recommends:
Read!
More than Petticoats: Remarkable Colorado Women by Gayle Corbett Shirley
Margaret Tobin Brown was just one of many revolutionary women living here in
Colorado during the early 1900’s. This book tells the stories of 14 different women
who broke down barriers and were far ahead of their time. Among Molly Brown’s
contemporaries were Caroline Churchill, a journalist who ran the nation’s first all-female
newsroom; the charismatic Ute Indian leader, Chipeta; Julia Holmes, the first woman to
scale Pike’s Peak and many more.
Watch!
Molly Brown: Biography of a Changing Nation (Harvey Productions, 2007)
This documentary produced by the Molly Brown House Museum places Molly’s life
as a champion for women’s rights and social activist in a larger historical context. Go
beyond the Titanic and see how Brown capitalized on her husband’s wealth to fight for
the causes she believed in. Topics discussed include the Ludlow Massacre and women’s
suffrage, as well as Brown’s own political ambitions.
Listen!
The Titanic Requiem by Robin Gibb and RJ Gibb
This piece was composed by the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb alongside his son RJ as a
tribute to the lives lost on the RMS Titanic. With stunning music performed by the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and RSVP Voices choir, along with vocals from Gibb
himself, this recording is a favorite among both classical music fans and Titanic history
buffs alike.
Download!
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
Find out more about the tragedy that befell the “unsinkable” ship with Walter Lord’s
1955 classic. Drawing on personal interviews with survivors of the disaster, Lord
created a masterpiece that remains to this day one of the definitive books on the
subject. Download the eBook or audio eBook from downloadmedia.denverlibrary.org.
Denver Public Library
Books and Borrowing
Department
[email protected]
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GET INTO THE ACT
YEAR-ROUND CLASSES FOR everyone 3-103
Improv | On-Camera | Acting | Public Speaking | Stage Combat
303.446.4892
denvercenter.org/act